Marketa Lazarová (1967)

A grim portrayal of the shift from Paganism to Christianity in medieval Czechoslovakia - as a young virgin promised to God is kidnapped and raped by a marauder who her religious father seeks to kill in return.

Director:

Frantisek Vlácil

Writers:

Frantisek Pavlícek, Vladislav Vancura (novel)

Stars:

Josef Kemr, Magda Vásáryová, Nada Hejna

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Josef Kemr	...	Kozlík
Magda Vásáryová	...	Marketa Lazarova
Nada Hejna	...	Katerina
Jaroslav Moucka	...	Jan
Frantisek Velecký	...	Mikolás
Karel Vasicek	...	Jirí
Ivan Palúch	...	Adam 'One-handed'
Martin Mrazek	...	Václav
Václav Sloup	...	Simon
Pavla Polaskova	...	Alexandria
Alena Pavlíková	...	Drahuse
Michal Kozuch	...	Lazar
Zdenek Lipovcan	...	Jakub
Harry Studt	...	Old Count Kristián
Vlastimil Harapes	...	Young Count Kristián

Storyline

Mikolás and his brother Adam rob travelers for their tyrannical father Kozlík. During one of their "jobs" they end up with a young German hostage whose father escapes to return news of the kidnapping and robbery to the King. Kozlik prepares for the wrath of the King, and sends Mikolás to pressure his neighbor Lazar to join him in war. Persuasion fails, and in vengeance Mikolás abducts Lazar's daughter Marketa, just as she was about to join a convent. The King, meantime, dispatches an army and the religious Lazar will be called upon to join hands against Kozlik. Stripped-down, surreal, and relentlessly grimy account of the shift from Paganism to Christianity.

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | brother sister incest | tarkovskyesque | lord | village | 

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Genres:

Drama | History | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Czechoslovakia

Language:

Czech German

Release Date:

24 November 1967 (Czechoslovakia)

Also Known As:

Marketa Lazarová

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmové studio Barrandov

Technical Specs

Runtime:

162 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

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Goofs

In a scene where Marketa observes a reindeer in the forest, you can see a director Frantisek Vlacil in jacket in the left of the frame. He was actually trying to scare deer, because they didn't want to move. This could be seen only on some of the Blu-Ray and DVD versions.

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Alternate Versions

The UK DVD is cut by 3 secs to remove a shot of a snake being stabbed.

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Connections

Referenced in Vsechnopárty: Episode dated 13 January 2017 (2017)

User Reviews

hard-to-find but brilliant

I've only seen this movie once, in a restored print at a film festival a few years back; it's apparently not available on video in the US, which is a real shame. It's a medieval epic, basically about the clash between the old pagan world and the emerging Christian one, but there's a lot more to it than that. Visually, it's nearly as stunning as *Andrei Rublev* (and a good bit faster-paced); some of the images - wolves roaming the barren forests, horsemen in snowstorms - will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. I'll admit that I'm a sucker for gloomy, wintry European art movies, especially if they work some bloody sword-fights in, too, but this is one of the overlooked Great Movies ...